


Of Tall Towers and Treasures

by Melusine11



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Historical, Blood and Injury, Dragon Rey, F/M, Knight Ben Solo, Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:14:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23387959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melusine11/pseuds/Melusine11
Summary: They say a red dragon guards a princess locked away in a tower, over the mountain and far from Snoke’s war-ravaged lands. They say there’s treasure, and not just the princess. They say a lot of things, but none of the things they mention say anything about what a pain it is to get to the tower, or that the princess and the dragon are one and the same.A tidbit that would have been good to know for one Kylo Ren, knight to King Snoke, and tasked with defeating said dragon.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 31
Kudos: 123
Collections: Reylo Moodboard Inspiration





	Of Tall Towers and Treasures

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thewayofthetrashcompactor (BriarLily)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BriarLily/gifts).



> Inspired by this lovely moodboard by Briar
> 
>   
> 

_They say a red dragon guards a princess locked away in a tower, over the mountain and far from Snoke’s war-ravaged lands. They say there’s treasure, and not just the princess. They say a lot of things, but none of the things they mention say anything about what a pain it is to get to the tower, or that the princess and the dragon are one and the same._

_A tidbit that would have been good to know for one Kylo Ren, knight to King Snoke, and tasked with defeating said dragon._

“You absolute arse!” she shouts, clutching at her arm while he cradles his face.

“Me?” He grunts in disbelief. “I’m the arse?!”

“Yes! You came into my home and then I can only assume based on those terrible attempts - tried to kill me.”

Kylo scoffs, tilting his head to stop any blood from running into his eye. “Only one of us is bleeding from the face.”

“I said terrible attempts, are your ears stoppered up?” She stalks closer to him and he scrambles back. “Well, at least you have some sense,” she sighs. “Now come here, let me see your face.”

“What? So you can finish the job? I don’t think so.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Besides if you leave now you’ll die anyway, either bleed out or the wound will get infected. So just-” She reaches for him and he glares at her with the eye not covered. “What’s your name?” she asks, getting her hands around his wrist and pulling. She’s stronger than she looks and brings him to his knees.

“Kylo Ren.” 

She hums as she inspects the damage. “It’ll scar,” she tells him and he makes a small noise because he knows it will. Can feel how deep and sharp the pain of it is. “Don’t move,” she whispers. “And when I’m done, I want your real name, not some stupid moniker you took up when becoming a knight.” He opens his mouth to retort and she slaps a palm against his lips. “I said after,” she insists.

Her touch is warm, almost hot, but it’s washed away almost immediately by cold. It seeps into his skin, tingling across the wound as the pain dissipates. He takes the time to observe her now, eyes closed in concentration. She’s got a smattering of freckles across her nose and her hair is long, tumbling down past her waist and pooling on the stone floor of the small chamber they’re in. Her dress is off white and delicately embroidered, most likely by her own hand. The sleeve is torn where he had caught her with his blade, the fabric blooming red.

When she finally pulls back he slowly reaches up to his face, touching the wound that is now a scar. She rises with a frown and bustles over to a low table beneath a window. “Here,” she says, returning with a damp cloth. Gently she swipes it across his skin. “Better,” she eventually says with a small close-mouthed smile and a nod. “I’m Rey.”

He stares down at the soiled cloth in her hands. “Ben. Ben Solo.”

“Did you come to rescue me, Ben Solo?” she asks, sounding amused.

“Not sure you need much rescuing,” he admits and Rey smiles, full and happy, and the slightly pointed edges of her teeth don’t scare him as much as they probably should.

“So who is it this time?”

“King Snoke.”

Rey makes a disgusted noise and stands again, dropping the cloth onto the table with a wet smack. “ _Snoke_ ,” she spits the name, “has been after my treasure and I for as long as I’ve been here. He has the wonderful habit of sending his knights who have fallen out of favor with him. So tell me, Ben Solo, what did you do to upset your King?”

Ben staggers to his feet, picks up his fallen blade and sheathes it after cleaning it up. “I tried to kill him.” The words linger heavily in the air. “He offered to spare my life in exchange for bringing you to him.”

Rey drags the long length of her hair over the front of her shoulder and runs her fingers through it, twisting the ends around her digits. “Did you believe him?” she asks, not looking at him, instead staring out at the now setting sun.

“I had hoped, maybe.”

“So to save your own life, if you were successful, you would have handed me over to your King?” She looks at him now, eyes flashing gold like the color they are in her dragon form. “Is my life worth less than your own?”

“No.” He shakes his head and takes a step closer to her. “I would have taken my pardon and found some way for us both to flee.”

“You remain oddly optimistic that he would spare your life after attempting to take his. No, Ben Solo, if you would have won here, your dear king would see you dead one way or another. Now come.”

She doesn’t wait for him, just exits the room through the door he entered through. He follows her down the tower steps and through the archway to an abandoned banquet hall. It’s covered in dust, the only interruptions are footprints. His own as he crossed through earlier. She pushes through a door he didn’t notice before and they descend down another set of stairs. When they reach the bottom it’s pitch black, but she snaps her fingers and torches lining the walls flare to life and his jaw drops open.

It’s not a very large room, but it’s filled with gold and jewels.

“You can take whatever you need as long as you promise never to go back to Snoke. Start a new life, away from him and his hatred and lies.”

“What?”

Rey tuts and looks up at him. “Come now, you’ve heard the stories and have now seen the truth,” she gestures at herself, “surely you don’t think I’ve been killing and eating all of the men who came before you to rescue me, do you? No. You never hear what happens to them because they leave Snoke’s kingdom for good. It’s not my fault people come to their own conclusions about it.”

Ben reaches out and picks up a sapphire bigger than his thumbnail and turns to her, where she stands healing her own wound now. “And if I should return?”

“Leave the treasure. It’s your own life to lose.” He deposits the sapphire back where he retrieved it from and crosses his arms over his chest to watch her. “Say what you will, Ben Solo, I can practically see the words trapped on your tongue.”

“You could come with me, you know as well as I how terrible Snoke is.”

“Yes, but it’s not truly my business what mortals do. Not anymore.” She sighs the words, and Ben can taste the sadness in the air. “The choice is yours,” she eventually says, stepping away from him.

“Wait.” He reaches for her, catching her wrist. “Please,” he begs, not backing down from the glare she fixes him with. “You could help so many people.”

She wrenches herself free from her grasp with a snarl. “I know. And I have. Long before you or your parents ever existed. This land was mine to watch over. All of my people traveled across the mortal realms helping, teaching magics, healing, gifting treasures, but your people grew greedy. Thought all dragons had treasures somewhere in their towers. Over and over and over again I would have to hear about uprisings, deaths, my people trapped and slaughtered for the sake of greed.

“My treasure was never mine. Gifts freely given, payment for teachings, odd tributes to the Red Dragon. But what true use does a dragon have for riches and gold when the people fear her? Not everyone did, some people saught me out seeking my help or refuge. Young mothers and children escaping their own horrors. Finally, I had a way to get rid of this. Then Snoke came. Young and enigmatic, a prince still, but already rotten to the core. The scent that came off of him—” her nose scrunches up and Ben can’t help but smile just a little. “He’s not a good man, more monster than I could ever be, he’s sent battalions of his knights here for the treasure, but you understand, don't you, that I couldn’t retaliate? The innocent people I could have potentially hurt? To get to your king I’d have to raze the castle.”

“And if you had a man on the inside?”

She surveys him for a long time, and he’s afraid she will say no, but she tilts her head and asks: “What would you expect in return?”

“Nothing,” he insists quickly. “Nothing for myself, but for the people—” They gaze down at the treasure together.

“You’re a good man, Ben Solo,” she says at last, “though the veneer you wear tries to hide it. I will help you.”

_They say a knight rode in on the back of a red dragon. They say with the dragon’s help the knight once known as Kylo Ren cut down King Snoke and distributed the treasure of the dragon amongst the people of the kingdom. They say he could have been King, but he didn’t want it. They say the dragon carried him away to her tower. They say a lot of things, but the one thing everyone agrees with is that Ben Solo and Rey the Red Dragon brought peace to a land filled with strife._


End file.
